Tuesday, April 15, 2003

After September 11th, many people asked "Why do they hate us?" like it was a hard question or something.

Why do they hate us? Well, maybe one of the reasons it that we keep saying things like this.

Sure, there's been some pilfering of food, appliances, medical supplies, and historical relics. But by the standards of a country whose rulers have routinely expropriated billions in oil revenue and seized whatever property struck their fancy, walking off with a jar of peanut butter and a fridge is more petty mischief than looting.
....That's not to say that the crowds' exuberance has been harmless; I'm sure that a lot of glass and more than a few noses have been needlessly broken, and I'm sure that some goods have been transferred to people who won't fully appreciate their value.

As examples of what was gone, the officials cited a solid gold harp from the Sumerian era, which began about 3360 B.C. and started to crumble about 2000 B.C. Another item on their list of looted antiquities was a sculptured head of a woman from Uruk, one of the great Sumerian cities, dating to about the same era, and a collection of gold necklaces, bracelets and earrings, also from the Sumerian dynasties and also at least 4,000 years old.

How about an entire city torn to the ground?
A young man named Rafiq was panicking in a terrible way and said in a broken voice, "Where are the American forces? We want to stop this situation. There is stealing and looting and we need safety. WHERE ARE THE AMERICANS?" ... "This isn't freedom, this is bullsh*t," a kid said to me. It was like the report of a rifle.

International Committee of the Red Cross official Roland Huguenin-Benjamin told CNN that hospitals have been looted and pointed out that potential patients will not be able to make it to the hospitals to receive treatment "unless some sort of security can be re-established in the city."

Take a look at this Yahoo News slideshow for a closer look at these "small potatoes." Some of these pictures are of Iraqis looting Saddam Hussein's palace. Fine. But the images of destroyed museum artifacts are disturbing. Not to mention images of people looting humanitarian food supplies and hospitals.

Limbaugh actually said the following today in regards to the museum looting:

"What culture? What cars have they invented? How many Nobel Prizes have they won?"

What culture? Oh, I don't know, that is the part of the world that pretty much invented the city, and the number zero (which is the exact amount of respect I have for Limbaugh). Or how about this amazing piece of architecture (found at Veiled 4 Allah)?

Why do they hate us? Because we're a bunch of completely inconsiderate assh*les, that's why.

And the first person to say "Oh, that means you think people deserved to die on 9/11" gets a verbal punch in the nose (addendum: not an actual punch, as this right-wing thug that Digby posted about suggested). That shows, to quote Bill Maher, an inability to mentally walk and chew gum at the same time.